When Javier Barajas first moved to Las Vegas in 1976, he found a job at one of just a few Mexican restaurants in the Valley, on Sahara Avenue just west of the brand-new Palace Station. Of course, it wasn’t called Palace Station yet; it opened that year as The Casino and was soon renamed as Bingo Palace before it took its current moniker in 1984. But Barajas would pass by the “small bar” and casino every day and pop in occasionally.
Jump forward a few decades. The Mexican restaurant Barajas and his family opened in 1990, Lindo Michoacán, has become a true locals’ favorite, just like Palace Station. And the favorites have combined with this month’s opening of the fourth Lindo Michoacán location inside the joint where Station Casinos began.
“I’ve always admired the Station Casinos family and I think it’s a great company,” Barajas says. “I see that every year, they do better and better, and my restaurant does too. Every year we do more sales. So when they asked if I wanted to go there, I was very excited. My mom and dad [celebrated] their 50-year anniversary at Palace Station, so I was very happy and I want to have a great partnership.”
Generations of Las Vegas families have similar happy memories of special occasions at Lindo Michoacán, which is still going strong at its original Desert Inn restaurant as well as outposts in Henderson and Summerlin. When Barajas first opened the doors, he wanted to present a more authentic showcase of his food and culture, to demonstrate how Mexican food is “extended” beyond what was, at the time, a limited sampling.
“My dream was to bring real art from Michoacán for the restaurant, and authentic food, and my dream came true,” he says. “Ours was the first restaurant to have handmade tortillas.”
Favorite dishes through the decades like Coca-Cola carnitas ($22), steak ranchero ($30) and seafood specialties like surf and turf or shrimp Sarandeados ($24) are all available at the new restaurant, because the menu is exactly the same at Palace Station.
“I was a guest at Lindo Michoacán well before we thought about bringing them here, and I took my family there because the food is exceptional, the service was top-notch, and every time you went, it was a good experience and you left saying you can’t wait to go there again,” says Lee Torres, the casino’s general manager. “This is the first Station property and that family feel is important to us. We felt like that focus on delivering the best experience possible makes this the perfect combination.”
Or maybe the perfect combination is the No. 20 Patzcuaro ($19), a chile relleno, a tamale, a green chicken enchilada with sour cream plus rice, beans and fideo soup. Lindo regulars know the menu is massive and the options are endless.
“For some reason we have a lot of customers that live by Palace Station,” Barajas says. “They keep telling me they’re not going to have to drive too long now, so a lot of people are happy we’re open at Palace Station.
“I’m just excited to keep doing what we’re doing. ... Restaurants are hard work every day, but I love this restaurant, I love to cook, and I love to see my customers leave happy. That’s what we’re gonna do at all Lindos.”
LINDO MICHOACÁN Palace Station, 702-253-2916, palacestation.com. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
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